Well I’m living in sin
Perched on the edge
Between right and wrong
Never giving in
There is something perversely satisfying about watching a band set up shop in a crumbling house like they’ve just inherited it from a disgraced aristocrat who left behind only dust and a decent armchair. NOVABLOOD’s video for Fake It plants the Carlisle, UK crew squarely in that kind of ruin, director Dominic Barnes letting the plaster peel and the light slant while the band claims the space with the calm authority of people who know the roof might cave in but still have rehearsal at 6:00 PM.
The song itself moves like it was caught mid-stride and told to keep on truckin’. Built from a single synth line that kicks the whole thing into motion, it carries that locked-in, don’t-overthink-it immediacy. “It was literally completed within 24 hours and one of many tracks which pinpoint the essence of the album,” says the band. “Raw, stripped, big attitude, and Paul’s guitar just brings it all together.” You can hear that 24-hour clock ticking in the track’s bones, the rhythm section holding steady while guitar and synth circle each other like wary dance partners who’ve decided tension is more interesting.
Visually, the abandoned house becomes a pressure chamber for all that internal moral wrestling. The lyrics chew on guilt and desire, on being perched between right and wrong, and the band play it with a straight face that borders on sly. Mark Zowie delivers the vocal cool and collected, stretched out over a bassline that struts with a wink. There’s a faint echo of Beck’s Midnite Vultures in that groove, the kind of sideways funk that smirks while keeping its collar buttoned.
Barnes frames them as monarchs of the mildly derelict, throned on an old armchair like it’s the last decent seat in the kingdom. Dust motes drift through the air, light cuts across bare walls, and nobody seems particularly interested in tidying up. The house looks like it has stories; the band look like they’ve decided to add one more. It’s a takeover without theatrics, confidence without cartoon villain gestures.
Fake It arrives ahead of You’re New To This Aren’t You?, out March 27 via Mint 400 Records, and the title alone carries a raised eyebrow. Zowie admits, “It’s difficult not to read that title without it coming over in a condescending manner, which I absolutely love about it.”
Watch Fake It below. Preorder You’re New To This Aren’t You? here.
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